back on to the issue of the fiscal cliff. the "washington journal" has been throughout the last couple of weeks focusing on specific elements of the issue. this morning focusing on social security and how congressional leaders plan to handle social security as part of the fiscal cliff talks. first up here on overview from a capitol hill reporter on social security. >> here to talk about the prop program and how it is involved in these discussions. steven joining us from the associated press where he's a reporter. thank you for being here. how many people in america receive social security and how much do they get? guest: a little bit more than 56 million people get social security and the average benefit is a little over $12,000 -- let's see, a little over $1,200 a month. so maybe it's like $13,000, $14,000 a year. host: and we're talking about retirees. also, though, the disabled. guest: yes, yes. actually we have a fairly wide group of people get social security benefits. retired workers, spouses, children, disabled workers